Morning, sweetheart
by JackAddict
Summary: Post season 2 Tochelle fluff. Fresh love. New plans. It's finished as far as I've planned it but I might change my mind if enough of you want more. Thanks for all your wonderful reviews so far! Please r&r.
1. Chapter 1

_This is my first attempt at a Tony and Michelle fic. This is just a teaser, if you like it, I'll continue it. So please review._

"So, uhm, what are we saying here... If we save L.A. from a nuclear bomb, then you and I can get together for dinner and a movie, is that it?", Tony had asked, biting his lip.

Michelle had smiled bashfully, lowering her eyes.

It was then they knew they were to be together.

_Six months later_

The first thing he felt that morning was a soft ray of light coming through the open door of the bedroom and landing on his eyes. He opened them unwillingly, squeezing them half-shut at first, not really wanting it to be morning yet. As he finally managed to force both his eyes open, he lay there still, observing the sunlight as it playfully moved across the wall.

Lowering his eyes, he looked at the brown locks, peacefully lying on his chest; Michelle's head rising and lowering itself with his breathing. He loved looking at her in the pale morning light, she was so beautiful, her features glowing with a warm, orange-yellow aura.

Heck, he loved looking at her in any light. She was always beautiful.

He lay there for a while, admiring the angel lying next to him in his bed, then gently moved his arm and placed it around her, wrapping it around her shoulders. She stirred but nothing further. Tony closed his eyes again, resolved to daydream, since his night dreams had decided to take a rain check.

After a while, he felt Michelle's arms move and observed her as she woke up.

Slowly pushing her eyelids apart, she met the same ray of sunlight that had greeted Tony a few minutes ago. _It always takes her less time than me to get used to the light in the morning. How's she do that?_, he thought to himself, never having been a morning person himself.

Michelle's eyes rose, meeting his, and she smiled brightly at the latino lover all her girlfriends envied her about.

_"I will marry him someday", she had told Meg the other day, when they met for lunch. _

_Meg laughed, taking a sip from her coffee cup. "Enjoy it while it lasts, hon, he'll be up and gone before you know it. He's the kind."_

_"No, he is not.", Michelle protested. _

"Morning, sweetheart.", Tony whispered in a low tone of voice. She loved that voice, it was so incredibly sexy, it had something mystical about it.

"Morning..." she whispered back.

Suddenly, her expression changed and she swiftly sat up in the bed, looking like she'd seen a ghost. "Are we late?", she exclaimed worriedly.

Tony chuckled, delighted at her vigilance so early in the morning. "No honey. Unless you're really keen on spending a Sunday at CTU..." He sat up beside her and kissed her forehead. "which, I'll tell ya right now, I am not."

Relieved and amused, Michelle let out a small laugh. "Yeah, me neither.", she said, keeping eye contact with him.

Slowly, she bent towards Tony and placed her arms around his neck, pulling herself over to his side and kissed him on the lips. "Mhhhm, I could think of a few things I'd enjoy far more than assessing terror threat levels today.", she whispered seducingly.

Tony nodded and uttered lowly: "Aha."

He embraced her and gently lowered himself back on the bed, pulling her down with him. As his back made contact with the still warm sheets and a second later Michelle's body touched his, he took her between his arms, turned her over to her back and rolled on top of her, starting to kiss her, his hand playing with her rich curls. His lips determinedly moved to her soft neck. Tony felt excitement strongly build up inside him as she squirmed in anticipation and he decided then and there to make her the happiest woman on Earth.


	2. Chapter 2

"I can't believe it's already past 12.", Michelle said, glancing at the kitchen clock after they had finished breakfast; a light breakfeast, well, a brunch now, really, that Tony had cooked with ease, while she was in the shower washing her hair. 

Tony enjoyed cooking, much to her delight, since to her it was already a great accomplishment if she didn't burn her toast. He had introduced to her a new delicious Mexican dish last night, his own variation of a recipe that his grandma' used to make, some sort of meatballs mixed with some zucchini and some kind of salsa, she couldn't remember the name of that for her life, even though Tony had had a great time trying to get her to pronounce the name of the dish before bursting out in laughter and finally giving up.

"I'm hopeless with languages, Tony.", she had said, biting her lip, remembering her struggle in highschool to pick up the little bit of German that that teacher, Herr Hartmann, was trying to make her acquainted with. She would always ace subjects like computing or history, even literature, but when it came to learning a foreign language, her brain usually simply went on strike.

"You are, huh?", Tony had said mockingly. After fifteen minutes of trying to get her to pronounce words like _albóndigas_ and _calabacitas_, even his truely Spanish heart had given up trying. "I kinda gathered that.", he giggled.

Michelle had grabbed a napkin from the table and threw it at him, laughing. "You're one huge _burrito_, you know that!"

"Hey, that was real Spanish of ya.", Tony had chuckled.

"Ooh, I'll get ya for that!", she had yelled through laughter, got up from the table and ran towards him and he had caught her, taking her in his arms and kissing her forehead. "You're my chiquita, burrito or not.", he'd whispered and she'd stayed in his embrace, leaning into him.

"Michelle...", she heard Tony say and woke up from her reverie. She looked at him, her eyes laughing and it elicited a bright smile from him. "Two pennies for your thoughts right now.", he said.

"Ah, nothing, I was just thinking about last night and what a talented language-learner I am." _I was also thinking about what an awesome guy you are but I'm not gonna prop up your ego too much._

Tony grinned. "Yeah, you sure are." He stood up, moving behind her chair, and placing his hands on her shoulders, he kissed the top of her head. "Come on, let's take a walk. The weather's so beautiful."

"Alright.", she agreed. "But I need to change.", she said.

"Sure, take your time.", he agreed and let go of her. _Even though I see nothing wrong with what you're wearing just now_, he thought, but he had learned that their views on her clothes sometimes differed and that it was better to let go, unless he wanted to spend the afternoon indoors, which he didn't.

She walked to the bedroom and opened a closet. He sat on the bed, watching her, silently placing a bet in his mind on how long it would take her this time to choose what to wear. But he enjoyed looking at her while she carefully removed a pair of denims out of the closet, along with a short pale blue skirt and a long flowery dress and stood, examining them closely. "Mhhmm, what should I wear?", she uttered, mainly to herself.

"Whatever you wear, honey, it'll be fine, you'll look great.", he said sincerely.

"Oh, Tony, now you're teasing me.", she said, turning around to face him.

"Nah, I'm not. I love all your clothes.", he protested.

"But I don't even have all of them here. They're at my place", she said, deliberately making her voice sound whiny.

"Well", he said, approaching her and placing his hands on her waist. "Guess we're gonna have to change that sometime.", _Sometime soon_, he added in his mind, kissing her neck. "Look, these denims look hotter on you than I've ever seen a pair of denims look on a girl before.", he whispered to her, swaying from side to side with her in his arms.

"Oh, so you've looked at other girls? Shame on you", she teased him, turning her head to the side to look up at him.

"Did I say that?", he exclaimed, putting on an innocent face. "I meant they're the hottest jeans ever. Period."

"Fine, I'll put them on.", she said and he watched her undress and slip into them with ease. She chose a tight pale pink top and put it on, completing the look with a thin black jacket. "How does it look?", she questioned.

"Just perfect.", he answered honestly.

"OK then, let's go."

They left the apartment holding hands and the streets of LA awaited them with the usual busyness, the usual sounds and odors of a Sunday afternoon. The traffic was a little less congested and the streets slightly less crowded, since the masses of people flocked to the malls or headed out of the city for an afternoon in the green. The sunlight reflected in the windows, the building tops shining in a bright light as if the sun itself had landed on them. It was early spring, and nature was awakening, not that they would notice much of that downtown with all the concrete surrounding them, but luckily, there were places in the city where they could escape the crowds and the loudness and the smells and look at birds and flowers instead.

Tony placed his hand around Michelle's waist, pulling her closer to him. She raised her head, looking at him, a bright smile on her face. "Where're we going?", she asked.

_Doesn't matter to me. As long as I'm with you_, Tony thought. "I was thinking, Echo Park.", he replied.

"Sounds good.", Michelle agreed.

They passed a bridal shop and Michelle couldn't help but glance at the white dresses in the window, imagining herself in one of them, walking down the aisle with Tony. She was so certain that he would be the one, no matter what Meg or anyone said. Tony caught her eye as they left the shop behind them. Her eyes were an open book to him by now. She felt it and bashfully looked away, but she couldn't pretend she was sorry that he saw her staring at that window. She couldn't pretend she was sorry that she stared at that window. And she didn't want to either.

While they rounded a corner, a man inadvertedly bumped into them, snapping them out of their thoughts. He apologized briefly, but the Marine in Tony woke up instantly, his mood switching to alert within a split second. He held Michelle tightly, watching the mirror image of the man in a window of a shop ahead of them. They kept on walking slowly, Tony taking care Michelle didn't notice his tension. As the man disappeared in the crowd and nothing happened, Tony relaxed again and smiled. _You gotta stop doing this, Almeida. Relax. Not like a terrorist's waiting behind any given corner_, he ordered himself.

"Hey, whaddaya think we grab a little something at Pedro's store, maybe have a picnic at the lake?", he asked Michelle, as he gestured towards a small grocery store across the street, Pedro's Delicatessen.

"Sure why not. We could get a beer or something. I'm in the mood for one."

"Alright.", he nodded and they joined a group by a pedestrian crossing, waiting for a green light. He stood behind her, wrapping his arms around her shoulders, she moved a hand to his right arm, caressing it. The light turned to green and they crossed over to the other side, and entered the store.

"Pedro?", Tony called as they walked in.

"Antonio!", a tiny, elderly Mexican wiped his hands on his apron and walked towards them, laughing. "Always good to see you, my friend." He and Tony hugged briefly, tapping eachother on their backs. Michelle stood next to Tony, knowing she was next in line for a hug. And so it happened. Pedro took a step towards her, "Michelle, haven't seen you in a while.", he said, giving her that hug.

"Hi Pedro.", she replied. "How's the store going?"

"Fine, just fine. Come in, what do you need?", he asked.

"Well, we were on our way to Echo Park and thought we could have a picknick or something, figured we'd grab a coupla beers, some crackers and such.", Tony replied.

"Sure, sure, just get whatever you need."

"I'll go get something", Michelle said and walked towards the aisles, examining their contents, while Tony stayed behind with Pedro.

"So how's your Mom, Antonio?", Pedro said, lowering his voice.

Tony ran a hand across his face, sighing, his expression suddenly thoughtful and sad. "Uhm... let's just say, she's been better. The doctors say she could recover but it would take time. Months, not weeks.", he added, his eyes finding a dark spot on the floor, staring at it absently for a few seconds.

Pedro softly gripped Tony's shoulder. "No lo comprendo, Tony. Lo lamento.", he said sincerely.

"Sì, Pedro. Yo también.", Tony whispered, sighing heavily. He glanced across the store to Michelle. She had picked a few things and carried them in her arms. He took Pedro aside, looking him in the eye. "Look, Pedro, I dunno how long Mom has. They did say chances are she could recover, but to me, that's just percentages. All I wanted all my life was for her to be happy and now this isn't making it easier on her. She worked so hard all her life to raise me and my brothers. When Alicia died, you know my Mom hardly kept from having a breakdown."

"Yes, I remember your sister. That was so unfair. I can't believe they still haven't caught the drunkard who crashed into her car... How long ago was that?"

"Ten years.", Tony said, nodding. "Actually, the day Mom had the stroke was the 10th anniversary of Alicia's death."

Pedro just closed his eyes for a moment, shaking his head in disbelief. Time passed so fast and bad luck was always haunting the best of the people.

"Uhh... Look, Pedro. I wanna make her happy while she can live to enjoy it. I've got something planned, but I'm gonna need your help if you're up to it. And Michelle can't know.", Tony whispered.

"What do you need?", Pedro answered, suddenly starry-eyed, the old prankster in him waking up. He was always up for secret surprise missions, and Tony had known that.

Suddenly, the door to the store opened and a masked man burst in, drawing a handgun and pointing it at Tony and Pedro. "DON'T MOVE! You know what this is! Get the cash, Spic, and I might let you live!", he yelled at Pedro.

As the door burst open, Tony protectively moved infront of Pedro, slowly raising his hands, glaring at the man with the gun. Pedro took one step back towards the counter. Michelle, barely managing to surpress a yell, silently backed off, hiding behind a shelf._ Just don't drop these beer cans_, she told herself.


	3. Chapter 3

Tony glared at the man with the gun, concentrating on not losing eye contact with him. He wanted to know if Michelle was out of sight, but it was clear to him that she was safe as long as the bandit wasn't aware of her presence and Tony tried hard to resist the urge to look in her direction. Inwardly, he prayed that Pedro wouldn't look at her either. 

"Get on it, Spic, I want the cash, NOW!", the criminal yelled. "You!", he shouted at Tony, "Get out of the way, I wanna see the guy behind you."

Tony stood there motionlessly. He felt Pedro move closer behind him. He was not about to give up his friend to a petty criminal. He knew Pedro had a family, even grandchildren. He'd be damned if he'd let them lose their grandpa.

"Alright. Look, there's no reason to hurt anyone here.", Tony uttered, his hands still up in the air. It would take all of his Marine and CTU training to bring this to an ending without a bloodbath and he was pulling it all together.

"Shut up! Move!", the man yelled.

"Hold on.", Tony replied. "Take it easy, alright? You'll get what you want, just put that gun down."

"You gotta be kidding me. Who are you to tell me what to do, huh?", the man answered, waving his gun.

Behind the shelves, Michelle felt her heart in her throat. _No, Tony, don't play the hero, _she thought, agonized about what she might witness.

Tony continued speaking to the man calmly. "Look, I'm just someone who'd rather get out of this alive, alright? Now put that gun down and we'll get you what you want. There's no reason to threaten anyone."

"What do you think I am, Spic, stupid?", the man exclaimed.

_No, Redneck, I think you're a damn moron._ Tony thought.

"No, you're not.", Tony said. "That's why you'll put that gun down. You know they'll get you. Right now, you can get away with armed robbery, you don't wanna be a murderer. Come on. Be smart.", Tony urged him, taking one small step towards the man, hoping to get an opportunity to end things soon.

"Stop right there!", the criminal shouted and Tony halted. He knew when to chance things and this was not the moment. He kept eye contact with his opponent, attempting to read him, predict his next move.

_Tony.. Honey watch yourself... _Michelle thought and took a small step behind a different shelf, wanting to see the assailant better. _What can you do to help, Michelle?_, she asked herself. _Diversion._

She agreed with her inner voice.

Tony focused on the gun in front of him. The robber tightened the grip on his weapon, Tony could see the criminal beginning to sweat, his eyes had started wandering around. _Don't get fussed now, Redneck. Don't cramp your fingers_, Tony thought. _You gotta calm him down, Almeida or he's gonna pull that trigger just outta nervousness_.

Michelle took one of the beer cans and laid it safely in the middle of the pile of groceries she held.

"Hey, listen to me.", Tony began.

Michelle pulled the seal on the can. The can opened with a clicking sound and at that moment, Pedro looked towards Michelle, and the armed man also looked in the direction of the shelves for a moment, afraid that his information was false and the store had a guard after all.

Tony used the diversion and ran towards robber, grabbing the gun firmly. The man was shocked for a moment, not reacting as fast as he would have had to in order to fight the certified Krav Maga instructor that Tony was. A few skillful moves from Tony and he had disarmed the thief, knocking him out cold. The robber lay sprawled on the floor. Tony pointed the weapon at him just to make sure.

_Gotcha, Redneck._ Tony breathed a sigh of relief. With his right foot, he turned the thief, who was still unconscious, onto his stomach, twisting his arms behind him and placed a knee on the man's hands.

"Pedro, get some rope. Go!", Tony said to his friend. Pedro nodded, relieved and swiftly went to the back of the store. "Michelle, are you alright?", Tony called.

"I'm fine, Tony." she said, coming into view after placing the groceries to the ground. "You ok?", she asked, worried.

"Yeah, I am. Call 911.", Tony said.

"Alright.", she answered, walking over to a phone at the store and dialing 911. "This is Federal Agent Michelle Dessler with CTU. There's been an attempt at an armed robbery. The suspect is disarmed and under control but we need a unit to pick him up... Yes. We're at Pedro's Delicatessen..."

Michelle continued giving the details while Pedro came back with a piece of rope and handed it to Tony. "Here you are, Antonio."

Pedro watched his young friend tie up the man on the ground almost mechanically, his moves practiced. Tony tied up the criminal's hands first, removed a pocket knife from his pants, cut the rope, and then moved over to the man's feet, shackling them together as well, and finally, he bent the men's legs towards his back and connected the restraints on the hands and feet with a third piece of rope. Pedro had never seen Tony at work, but now he was glad that Tony turned up at the store at the right moment. When Tony finished, he turned his prisoner to the side, then got up, but stayed close to the man on the ground, watching him. Satisfied with the restraints he had placed on the man, he looked over to Michelle.

After ending the phonecall, Michelle went over towards Tony and Pedro.

"Watch him, will ya.", Tony said to Pedro and then eagerly took a few steps towards Michelle, meeting her half-way.

Tony and Michelle hugged, both relieved that the other was okay. She pulled away and kissed him, and Tony kissed her back with all he had. As she pressed her soft lips against his, and a moment later his tongue twirled in her mouth, finally, he felt the adrenaline rush in his body and the tension in his mind begin to die down, leaving him happy he was able to ressolve the situation without anyone important getting hurt. And especially, he had been thankful that, during all that time, Michelle was never in the line of fire, never in front of that gunbarrel. He silently thanked God and Providence as their lips parted and he held her tightly in his arms and she leaned her head on his shoulder.

They let go of eachother after a while and Tony kissed Michelle's forehead. "Come on.", he uttered lowly, taking her hand, beginning to walk towards Pedro. She followed him willingly, glancing in passing at the figure on the ground; the man looked like a package ready to be sent.

The sounds of police cars outside revealed that backup was approaching. Pedro went up to Tony, offering his hand. "Graçias, amigo.", he said.

Tony shook his hand and pulled him into a quick hug. "De nada, my friend.", he answered. "Anytime."

Pedro smiled. "Michelle, take whatever you want to, it's on me. You guys should go have that picnic."

"Thanks Pedro. We'll hang around for a while.", Tony answered. He still needed to talk to Pedro before they left. And now the police were there, he knew they'd have to stay for a while but he was hoping they'd let them go soon enough.

The officers entered the store, securing it, allowing Tony, Michelle and Pedro to lower their hands again once it was clear they were no threat and that Michelle was the one who called them in.

The detective on duty introduced himself to the three of them and quickly went over the main points of the attempted robbery with Tony and Michelle first. Then he began talking to Pedro, but announced to Tony that he wanted to talk to him and Michelle again later on and Tony nodded. "Fine. But not today. We're off duty. You can reach us at CTU tomorrow, alright?", he said calmly but firmly, looking the detective in the eye.

The detective looked at Michelle, and then back at Tony. From the glances they were giving eachother during all the time he was talking to them, it was clear they had other plans and he decided to let them leave. After all, they were not just some random eyewitnesses who would forget what happened as soon as they left the store. He trusted that as Feds, they'd still give him accurate information the next day. "Alright. I'll be in touch.", he agreed.

"Thank you." Tony said, and walked over to Michelle. "Uhm, look, the detective cleared us to leave, but I need to talk to Pedro for a moment before we do, alright?", he finished, biting his lip.

"Sure. I'll wait outside, let them do their jobs.", she smiled and Tony smiled back, nodding at her. "Thank you Pedro.", Michelle called to the store owner, holding up the bag of groceries he had put together for them, insisted on her taking it and refused to take any money in return.

"Always welcome, Michelle.", Pedro laughed, waving goodbye to her. "And thanks."

When she left, Tony joined Pedro. "About before... Remember what I said about the surprise?"

"Yeah.", Pedro said.

Tony slipped a hand into a pocket in his jacket, taking out a key with a pink key fob, giving it to Pedro. "Here's what I need you to do.", Tony said in a low voice.

Outside, Michelle watched Tony talk to Pedro through the glass window of the store. At some point, a huge smile covered Pedro's face. Then she saw Tony say something, and Pedro visibly surpressed that smile, trying to look serious, but his eyes betrayed that there was something big behind it.

A couple of minutes later, Tony and Pedro hugged again and Tony strolled towards the exit. He joined Michelle a moment later, putting his arm around her waist. "Now, where's that picnic?", he said.

"I've got it right here", Michelle answered, showing him the bag, which Tony took from her to carry.

"You're my hero, Tony.", she smiled, kissing his shoulder.

"You know I'll do anything for you, sweetheart. Anything.", he replied sincerely.

She stopped and turned to face him, wrapped her arms around him and looked him in the eye. "I love you Tony. I really do love you.", she whispered and, closing her eyes, she led her lips towards his.

Their lips had almost touched when Tony whispered, "I couldn't love anyone more." He hugged her tightly and they kissed passionately.

At some point, they continued to walk, holding hands and ignoring the rest of the world around them. At some point, the entrance to the Echo Park was straight ahead and they entered, looking forward to finding a secluded corner somewhere by the lake and spending a quiet rest of the afternoon there. At that point, they felt like teenagers who were just beginning to discover what love was.


	4. Chapter 4

author's note: alright, sorry for taking this much time to update, I guess I just wasn't in the tochelle mood with all the stress my personal life has put on me. however, I've managed to finish this up now, and here you are, enjoy the (probably) last chapter of this fiction :-). thanks for reading and reviewing, I could really use a few nice ones ;-)

* * *

**Echo Park **

The park was green, the trees just having begun to put on their usual green coat that they would wear for the summer. Birds had occupied their new nesting sites and their songs were filling the park with dozens of melodies - some short, some longer, but all of them cheerful. The beautiful Sunday weather hadn't only drawn birds out, people were there too. _If the park weren't this large, it'd feel crowded._, Tony thought. But his heart-of-the-town apartment didn't exactly support a cozy garden, so, what could he do... One day, though. One day, he really wanted that cliché suburban house with a garden and a dog and maybe even a Volvo. Hell, yeah, he wanted kids. And he knew he wanted Michelle to be their mom.

But first things first. They had to find a secluded place now.

As if she had read his mind, Michelle gestured towards a large bush that looked as if it had been purposely constructed to be the way it was. Broadly based, and the leaves had already emerged, giving it just enough structure to hide its interiors from view. Most importantly, it's top towered like a roof over a hollow interior.

Tony chuckled in amusement: "In there?"

Michelle nodded. "It's perfect. Shade, nature...", she stopped and gave him a small kiss on the lips. "...and privacy.", she finished.

"You're nuts, you know that.", he grinned, but started marching towards the most natural kind of shed he'd ever planned to hide in. "I haven't hid in bushes since I was 5.", he asserted.

"I thought you were with the Marines.", she teased him.

"Yeah, well, I might have hid in bushes, but not for fun.", he answered.

"Well, it's high time you started, then.", she laughed, crouching to enter through the hole in the 'wall' of their hideout, pulling Tony behind her. Tony was still shaking his head, crouching, almost crawling to enter, but once inside, he found - to his surprise - that the "shed" the park had offered them was in fact quite cozy - for a bush - and he could almost stand in there, provided he kept his head very low. He could in all sincerity imagine spending the rest of the afternoon there, sure they wouldn't be bothered. "Ya got a great eye for housing.", he uttered. "I'm definitely lettin' ya choose my next flat.", he said.

While he had been inspecting the bush, Michelle had already found a good place to 'set the table', finding to her surprise that Pedro had added a nice picnic blanket to the groceries. As it was done, she called to Tony cheerfully "Ta-da." and he looked over, smiling and approached her. "You're amazing, you know that?", he said, putting his arms round her waist softly.

"You're not that bad yourself.", she whispered. "Thanks for saving us all at Pedro's."

Tony kissed the tip of her nose. "I ain't lettin' no-one get close to my gal", he said, imintating a kid's voice, in accordance with the 5-year old kid analogy he had brought up earlier, and it made her chuckle lightly, as his head came to rest uporn her shoulder. His slow, warm breath met her neck and she closed her eyes for a second - or three seconds - enjoying the sensation it gave her. Not changing position, Tony walked her towards their picnic corner, then gently started lowering himself down, making her body follow his lead until they both knelt on the blanket and kissed.

She could feel him reach out for something and then he brought his hand up, suddenly breaking the kiss, and pushing an olive into his mouth. Amused at her bewildered expression, he laughed. "Let's eat. I'm hungry. Ya hungry?"

She laughed but sat down and they ate. Pedro had thought of everything; appetizers, drinks, even a delicious dessert he had brought from home that morning; he had said his daughter had made it and he'd insisted on Tony taking it as a special present: his daughter could make many more of those, Pedro had argued.

Michelle enjoyed the afternoon just as much as Tony did. They had both relaxed again, the feeling of hiding inside a bush bringing back childhood memories in both of them, and of course, they shared them with each other. Michelle insisted Tony tell her about the last time he hid in a bush, to which he of course replied he couldn't remember; but after a while, he gave in and told her about his sister, his two older brothers and how they tried to play a prank on their mom. "We'd all hidden in this giant bush and we sent Roy, this neighbor boy, to run to mom and tell her that he just witnessed us being pushed inside some van and then that van drove off.", he said, putting on an innocent face.

Michelle chuckled. "You wanted your mom to believe you'd been kidnapped!"

"Yeah, basically, that was the idea. Although, it was planned as a pleasant side-effect to have old Roy get into trouble for lying.", Tony replied and scratched his ear. "Now, ya gotta know, this Roy boy, he was a damn good actor, he'd played leads in highschool plays and all, ya see, and... Well, let's say, our mom believed him."

"She must have been scared to death!", Michelle uttered.

"Yeah, she was.", Tony nodded and paused. "Needless to say, it damn near gave her a heart attack when she ran into the yard yelling for help and police and Jesus and then all of a sudden, all four of us emerge out of the bush and shout "SURPRISE!"

"That was so mean of you kids!"

"Yeah, I know that now. But back then, I was just five! But guess who they pinned the blame on...", he said, doing his best to sound like a hurt child.

"You?"

Tony nodded. "Sure. I was the youngest and had been known as a prankster. My dad had no trouble believing the idea was all mine. I don't wanna really go into details about what happened then, but I can tell ya, I never hid in a bush again since. Well, until I had to in the Marine Corps."

Michelle suddenly started giggling. "I'm sorry Tony.", she managed to utter, before the giggle got louder and harder. "I just can't believe you did that." The giggle turned into laughter and soon she realized she had to stop before it turned into another one of her infamous laughing fits. She knew he didn't mind them, but she really hadn't planned on spending the next hour giggling like crazy, so she pulled herself towards him, wrapped her arms around his neck, her lips inches away from his, and whispered: "Stop me." And he did. His gentle kisses won the battle.

It had started getting darker when they left the park. Knowing they both had to get to work in the morning, they had decided on going home relatively early in the evening. On Sunday evenings, they'd usually stay at Michelle's place, since her apartment was closer to CTU than Tony's. Or at least that was the excuse they gave to anyone who asked.

They walked back to Tony's place, took his car and were on their way within minutes. _Record time_, Tony thought. He didn't need to take much with him, since the two of them were practically living in both apartments, clothes and other stuff divided between the two locations.

Michelle was tired and leaned on the headrest, keeping her eyes closed most of the time as Tony drove them out of his neighborhood and through the evening traffic. It seemed to him like she had already dozed off and he was considering the option of taking her up the five flights of stairs; for all he knew, the elevator was broken, and while he was certain that he could carry her up Mount Everest if need be, he was not so sure if she would allow him to do so.

Michelle, in the passenger seat, was awake, but she had allowed herself to daydream. It had been such a lovely afternoon, and when each wonderful weekend they spent together ended, she found herself wanting it to be Friday evening again. It's not that she disliked CTU. She liked the job that she had, she enjoyed working alongside Tony, but they had both felt it was best if they didn't carry their romance out in the open so as to prevent office chatter and jealousy. That meant no holding hands, no quick kiss, trying not to actively avoid looking at each other during meetings, but making sure they didn't stare into each other's eyes all the time either. It had become difficult. Of course, since Carrie walked in on them the day it all started, the entire CTU pretty soon knew what was going on; but still, there was no need to be feeding rumors.

Michelle was sure she hadn't fallen asleep, but it nonetheless startled her when she felt a hand move softly under her back and she opened her eyes. "Are we there?", she asked, and only then did she notice the engine wasn't running. Tony had left the car and was now standing by the open passenger door.

"We're home, sweetheart.", Tony whispered and added, "I would have carried you up there."

"No, no, it's ok.", she uttered, slightly ashamed she had fallen asleep on him. After all, it was just a 15 minute drive. "I just didn't think I was tired at all.", she explained.

"You sure look tired, honey. Let's go tuck you in.", he smiled and she exited the car. He locked it and they entered the building. To their surprise, the elevator appeared to be working, since it arrived at the ground floor the moment they walked through the entrance and Ralph, a neighbor of Michelle's, walked out. He held the door open for them, while they quickly said their hellos and then Ralph was off. Michelle didn't care where he was going; all she wanted was to fall between her sheets and sleep.

The fifth floor was reached reasonably quickly, and Tony started digging in his pockets. "I can't find the key, I must have left it at home.", he said. "You got yours?"

"Sure, I got it somewhere.", she opened her purse and out it came. Contrary to the usual mess in women's purses and the long searching normally following from that, Michelle knew exactly where things were. She felt for the pink, furry key fob quickly, then Tony took the key from her, turned it and pushed the door open.

"Wait here a second.", he told her as he stepped in but kept his foot by the door so that it would stay closed. Turning on the lights, he grabbed the remote control that stood on a commode by the door and switched on the stereo, then turned the lights out again. He then pulled the door open and took Michelle's hand, allowing her to enter.

He felt his heartbeat rise as Michelle stepped into the flat and her tired eyes were suddenly reflecting the warm glow of candles that shone from the room; all at once, she stopped looking tired, stopped feeling tired. She glanced around. Her entire apartment was filled with flowers; roses, lillies, tulips, and more roses. There were candles everywhere. The stereo played "Michelle" by the Beatles.

Tony led her inside, humming the song to her ear. _"Michelle, ma belle, sont les mots qui vont très bien ensemble, très bien ensemble. Michelle, my belle, are the words that go together well, my Michelle. I love you I love you I love you, that's all I want to say..."_ By this time, he had led her through the apartment to the center of the lounge and she sat down on the couch. Now it was _her_ turn to be nervous. There wasn't any doubt in her mind about what was coming and she had wanted it so much that she was afraid of it; _if that made any sense_, she added in her mind. She wasn't tired at all anymore. She was excited it was finally happening.

As expected, Tony went down on bended knee in front of her. His heart was now beating so hard he was certain she could hear it. But it didn't matter. He knew she wanted him, and God be his witness, _he knew_ he wanted _her_. He didn't want to go back and forth between apartments, he didn't want to hide their romance any longer, he didn't want anything but to make her Mrs. Almeida for the rest of their lives. _Thanks for arranging this, Pedro_, he thought. Tony could feel that the effort Pedro and his sons (who owed a flower shop) had put in would lead to success in his mission; Tony was moments away from being over the moon and he knew his mom would be jubilant about her youngest son finally getting married. He could only imagine, well, hope, in that innocent way a kid hopes for the highly desired Christmas present, that Michelle would be just as happy to say yes as he was to ask her the question of all questions. If he was honest, though, there was not the slightest doubt in his mind that she would.

He smiled, somewhat insecurely, then took a deep breath and began his proposal. He was sure it wouldn't turn out to be as eloquent as he wanted it to be, but he knew exactly how he would end it. His face then became serious and he spoke:

"Michelle... I love you.", he said simply, looking into her eyes. "I never thought I could love anyone again, but I do. I love _you_. After what happened with Nina... my world shattered. Nina's betrayal... I never thought I would be able to trust anyone again. I was afraid to even _think _about starting a relationship with anyone. I had tried to work 24/7 until I realized that this was nagging on me way too hard to allow me to concentrate on doing my job well. I had become angry, disillusioned and just simply sad. Pathetic, really." He paused, taking another breath before continuing.

"The night before you started working at CTU, I had written my resignation and I was going to give it to George first thing in the morning. When I got there, he was at Division for some meeting and I had to hold off on this until he came back. An hour later, I saw an angel walk through the door - it was you. You walked over to Milo's desk and looked at me in passing and for a moment there, I just couldn't breathe. I was so thankful that George had told Milo to introduce you to everyone because I wouldn't have been able to utter a single syllable.", he grinned and paused for a second. "Anyway, I took my resignation letter and shredded it. From that moment on, I knew that my place was wherever you were. I was to be wherever you were going, I was meant to be by your side at that time, anytime, at all times."

He looked at her, she could see she was on the verge of tears, but they were happy tears; she was smiling at him, visibly touched by his words.

"Michelle. You're the one who gave my life meaning again and you continue to do so every single day. I love you with every beat of my heart, with every fiber of my body, my very soul. You are my one and all, my everything. I don't want to be away from you, I want to be there with you every day when you wake up, I want to tuck you in every single night. I'll be your wine when you get drunk and your water when you're thirsty. I want to be there for you all my life for as long as we both live. I want to make you the happiest woman on this planet and beyond, no matter what it takes." He slipped a hand into his pocket and took out a small box. Opening it, he held the ring in front of her. He paused for the last time, before asking the all-important question: "Michelle, my love, will you make me the happiest man ever and marry me?"

Michelle was speechless for a moment, a moment in which Tony suddenly started dreading her reply; tears were now running down her cheeks freely, but she was smiling through them. Her momentary silence was broken by a simple three-letter-word: "Yes!", she exclaimed and knelt down on the floor by him. "Yes! Yes, I want nothing more than that.", she said, while she hugged him and they began to kiss. Tony was still holding the ring box in his hand, she hadn't even waited for him to give the ring to her. It was only too obvious that all that mattered to her was what he had said, their love, the certainty they both felt - that their feelings for the other would never fade; the material stuff was not important. What mattered was that she would soon become Mrs. Almeida and she couldn't wait.


End file.
